I Corinthians 2:9
Long time no see!
My last blog
posted so long ago it may seem I’ve fallen off the face of the earth…Actually,
I’ve been traveling it! A few weeks ago
I journeyed to the land of Israel. Trying
to explain one’s adventure to The Holy Land is like trying to describe marriage
to a single person. It’s just something
you have to experience for yourself to fully understand. If you ever get a
chance to go, don’t even hesitate. Do
it! I still have not processed all of
it, but I know one thing. I’ll never be
the same…
I’m
not sure how much I’ll be able to articulate, but I do have a strong overall
impression. It’s this: I have a brand
new perspective on what Heaven will be like.
And after this experience, I absolutely cannot wait to live that part of
God’s plan!
One
of the best aspects of the trip happened totally on accident. I didn’t plan it
this way, but I believe it contributed to my trip of a lifetime. As it turned out
my cell phone charger shorted out leaving me with no regular connection to
anything back home…no cell phone, no Facebook, no email. While we did have a
TV, we never even touched the clicker.
Hence all the issues and struggles of daily life remained in oblivion
till I returned home.
My only responsibility entailed choosing
my outfit and showing up to the appointed places on time. Which usually is an issue for me, but since that was my only requirement I
managed both quite well. I didn’t have to figure out what to eat, where to go,
how to get there. I didn’t have to clean
up or check on anyone or anything. My
focus consisted of soaking in each moment and loving those around me! I laughed uncontrollable belly laughs. I
cried deep guttural sobs. The hair on
the back of my neck stood up as Biblical pieces began to fit together. I witnessed the Bible come alive in ways I’ve
never perceived before. My heart burst as I walked the path of love…the path Jesus
walked in my place. In between the
laughs and the tears, I caught glimpses of the sheer magnitude of God’s
majesty. His power and glory is way bigger than my wildest imagination.
Honestly, I didn’t want to come home. The Galilean landscape dripped with lush
color. The Dead Sea floated (literally…did you know it’s impossible to
sink in the dead sea because of all the solvents?) through my eye gate with
its dreamlike mountainous pale bluish, petal pink backdrop. And Jerusalem…Ah, Jerusalem! Never have I seen a more magnificent,
awe-inspiring city in my life. I don’t
suspect I ever will.
Whatever my vision of Heaven consisted of
before this trip, I certainly needed to crumple it up like a scratch piece of
paper and start a fresh! How could
Heaven be anything less than the varied beauty, the stress free delight, the
full breath of lungs bursting with laughter, the cavernous sense of purpose and
hope God permitted me to experience in His Holy Land? I don’t believe it will be any less! I believe I just dipped my pinky toe into His
amazing future for all who accept Him as Savior.
I
thank God for letting me sample a teensy bit of what I’m really living for! Things
of this world…they don’t mean as much to me because I know there is more! Earth is not my final destination. I want to be all that God has for me
here. I want to embrace every moment and
relationship and opportunity because there are intense purposes I cannot fully comprehend. I know I don’t understand it all. I’m not
supposed to, but I aspire to walk by the light God does give me because I don’t
want a second’s regret when I get Home!
"...Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him."
